They are all max players. We have Lillard, Batum and Aldridge. Obviously Lillard isn't as good as Wade, or Batum as good as Lebron; but Aldridge is better than Bosh. Basically; if those three players really develop chemistry; could they be a poor man's Wade, Lebron and Bosh?
It's more like this, though James Wade/Bosh The Blazers don't have a James. No other team in the NBA has a James outside of Miami.
I think you undersell Wade. When healthy, he's just about on Lebron's level (well, as much on his level as someone 4 inches shorter and 60 pounds lighter can be). Still, your point is valid.
No. i was just using the "max" as a reference to the big three in Miami. Our big three right now is at 15 mil, 11 mil and 4 mil
There's a pretty clear pecking order in Miami, 1. Lebron 2. Wade 3. Bosh, that's the order of overall impact. For the Blazers as currently constructed I see the order of our 'Big 3' starting next year as 1. Lillard 2. Aldridge 3. Batum. Even my highest hopes for Lillard put him on a 'Wade' level of impact not Lebron, I don't ever see him getting to Wade's level of D but with better playmaking and shooting it could be close. Aldridge has been asked to carry an offense for teams fighting for the 6-8 seed in the West the last 3 years, much like Bosh was asked to carry the load in Toronto before going to Miami. The situations are eerily similar and the stats for both are very close Bosh was the better offensive player of the two in that role, so you've got close to a 'Bosh pre-becoming a #3' out of Aldridge. Batum's gotta get healthy, and more consistent with his effort every night, but even then it's hard to say if he's ever gonna reach the impact of any of Miami's big 3. If he does manage to reach a Bosh level of impact, then relative to Miami I see us as a 2. Lillard 3. Aldridge/Batum. Hard to say if that's championship caliber, probably has more to do with depth, coaching, and letting some of the current contenders fall by the wayside. Maybe one of Miami's big 3 takes off after next season when they can hit free agency, the Spurs probably don't keep up quite this level of play starting next year or the year after, and OKC's cap moves have already cost them big talent so who know's how they'll keep or replace guys like Martin or Perkins.
I think our major problem is we don't have a wade or LBJ that get's the benefit of the doubt on most calls. Also, we don't have their monster number capabilities, yet.... <-- hopefully lillard changes that. What we really really need is that center. All the more reason why I was sooo fucking goo goo over Hibbert. The moment our team gets that player; we can be a contender, IMO.
That first sentence is the key to the Blazers chances at making a run for a title in the near future. Those three players alone put the Heat near the salary cap. They can only afford rookies and old vets on minimum contracts if they want to stay out of the luxury tax area. Aldridge, Batum & Lillard combined total less than $30 million, leaving plenty of money to put into better supporting cast players. The Blazers will need to use the Detroit model in making a title run. No superstars, but lots of depth with really good other players. Now Olshey just has to go get a few of those really good supporting players this summer.
I don't think we're a true contender with just a center, Lillard and Batum still need to develop and Lillard needs to take over as our leading scorer, Aldridge needs to accept that, we still need some depth on the wing, and we absolutely need better defensive coaching. With how I view a prime Lillard and Batum, it would take all or almost all of that to really put us in the top 3-4 teams in the league, which is where I draw the line for contenders.
No. Sorry. The current Blazers really have no choice but to build on a Detroit Pistons model - several All-Star caliber players, without a true SuperStar, combined with good coaching and team chemistry that produces team success above the talent level of the best players. And even still, that Blazer's team cannot beat a team the likes of the current Miami Heat. As with the Pistons, the Blazers would have to peak during the right year or two that luckily coincided with a rare year when the powerhouse teams of the NBA all have off years. The Pistons that won the Title in 2004 did have a good bench, but in the playoffs the 5 listed played 4,327 of 5,620 game time minutes. Pistons/Blazers Billups / Lillard - he is already close offensively, but a ways go defensively. Rookies often have trouble with defense, so we could see some quick improvement next season. Hamilton / Matthews - is closer than you might think, better defender and more efficient scorer, Hamilton was more disruptive and a primary offensive threat. Prince / Batum - is better than Prince offensively, but Prince was 2nd Team All-Defense for several seasons. Rasheed / LaMarcus - at this stage LaMarcus is a primary offensive threat, Rasheed was not at Detroit, they were the same in efficiency, Rasheed was the better defender. Ben Wallace / ??? - Wallace was a multiple Defensive Player of the Year winner who anchored a great defensive team. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DET/2005.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/POR/2013.html The Blazers are already a better offensive team than the Pistons the two years they went to the Finals. And that is with the Blazers having one of the worst benches in the NBA. With further expected growth from Lillard and Batum and improvements to the bench, the Blazers could be a top 5 offensive team without overhauling the roster. Lillard/Wes/Batum/LaMarcus stacks up decently against the Detroit counterparts. The Center position is obvious missing piece. What the team really needs is a large improvement in defense. We need that defensive anchor. I was upset we lost out on Hibbert, as it is more clear than ever that the team was right to try to pry him from Indy. That is exactly the type of player we needed and still need.
Lillard will eventually be much better than billups. The comparison is foolish, IMO. Aldridge is a weaker defender than Wallace, but a much more prolific scorer than the pistons Wallace. The only question is our center. If we has a hibbert; the comparison would be without question win for Portland. The biggest difference is defense. We suck, they rocked. I blame the most of it on coaching because there are many other teams ahead of us with less skilled players. If we had a defensive minded coach; the comparison would be closer than you think. Our defense is about zones and man. There are no traps or doubles. It's frustrating to all hell
